Yale

The name comes from Linus Yale senior an American born lock maker who developed the pin tumbler mechanism used previously in Ancient Egypt. Following in his father’s footsteps in 1848 Linus Yale junior developed the smaller cylinder lock with a small flat key which later became corrugated and then shaped in section. Linus Yale junior teamed up with Henry R Towne an English descended engineer in 1868 to form Yale & Towne manufacturing Co. Today Yale is a trading division of Assa Abloy Ltd. Yale is not a type of lock unless it has been made by them, although the term is often used to describe a cylinder night latch. This term has evolved from the Yale’s invention for which they are renown.